I should not be too surprised, but MSIE basically lets any web developer install any software they bleeding well please on my computer. I'm running a scan to check for spyware and there are three (THREE) such programs on my machine. I don't do a lot of high-risk browsing (like porn, gaming, or music swapping), but this stuff has appeared on my machine in the last month.
It makes me very angry, because it seems like Microsoft invariably ignores the first rule of computer security: if it doesn't need to be open, it should be closed. And they do so at the expense of my system, such that I have to spend a day out of each month cleaning up after the mess their inferior software makes. I'm very much looking forward to getting my Mac laptop this summer, I can tell you.
Have you patched from Windows Update recently? What are you running for a personal firewall?
Even then they can getcha. I visited some web site at the office that kept changing my homepage and opening up a bunch of windows. Unfortunately even a couple well-thought-of spyware catchers didn't get it (got some other stuff but not that). I had to do a freakin' registry search and delete the key.
Since it didn't write files to my disk, my excellent antivirus was no help.
MS really has mended their ways (as long as you have something reasonably current, *roll eyes*). But it did take quite a bit for them to get the farkin' clue.
I have pathed Windows, and it seems to be getting better (only about 90 percent of the crap comes through, instead of 100 percent of it), but for heaven's sake, it should not be a patch for a 15-year-old OS to have secure ports.